Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Chaska, MinnesotaHello Teddy Bear Friends: I have always had this yearning to draw and create. I have all these ideas in my head and I'm not able to put them down on paper to translate them. I don't know how to draw very well only doodling and such. Over the years I have read your posts and gathered many have art degrees and training (which I can tell from your glorious bears and art projects). I looked all over the area to take drawing lessons with little in the area. So I found a class at our local Junior College. Come to find out, they have several classes that look delicious like sculpting, painting.... I'd have to enroll as an "art major" though I'm not really pursuing a degree, just take some classes. It is $488 for a course (15 weeks). I'd be going in with no experience and other students will be taking the class probabley doing this for years (they are majoring in this so I'd think they have been drawing and creating for years)!! I guess I'm afraid I'd look silly.
Questions:
So those who took classes like this, how would a true novice fair in a class like this?
Did formal training help with your creating bears?
Is it worth it?
Should I take the plunge and take classes?
What would I learn if I took several classes from this school?
Also, what other classes would you recommend to help me grow in my creativity?
Any advice is welcome....
Angela's Bear GardenIf you want to expand your creativity, go for it! You sound really excited about the prospect of learning more... follow your heart!
If you're only doing it because you see other artists doing it...maybe you should rethink it.
As long as we live, we will never stop learning...If this is what you love to do, then you can't lose.
Any drawing course will help you gain perspective for better pattern creation...Any sculpting course can help with 3d construction ideas, etc. Everything I've learned over the years has helped me make better bears.
Like I said...follow your heart!!!
Chaska, MinnesotaDear Angela: That is great. So it did help with pattern creating! Yes in deed, that is what I'm looking for. I want to be able to put on paper what I create in my head. I can't do that right now...So thank you for your feedback.
Holt, MISo those who took classes like this, how would a true novice fair in a class like this?
First and foremost... don't think you'll be going in as the least experienced one!
You start at the beginning when it comes to classes, and that means everyone else is doing the same thing!!!
I think you'll be shocked at how many people in your class will be novices with no more than an interest in drawing... some of them aren't even there for that, but for an easy credit.
Did formal training help with your creating bears?
I think drawing helps a ton, being able to visualize what you want to create, then sketch it out... and then turn that sketch into a pattern... immensely helpful.
Is it worth it?
I think anything that forces you to get out there and use your creative juices is worth it... I think we tend not to realize it sometimes, but our creativity stagnates when it's not used... keep it moving, keep it fresh!
Should I take the plunge and take classes?
If you have the money to spend, I would say yes. (I forgot to elaborate on this part... if the class fee doesn't include it, you can usually count on spending another $50-200 (at least) in art supplies)
What would I learn if I took several classes from this school?
Depends, what are the course descriptions for the classes you are considering taking?
Also, what other classes would you recommend to help me grow in my creativity?
Maybe a photography class... those really make you look at the world differently.
Michelle,
Classes are a great way to stretch your creativity! Don't worry, you are already creative you'll love the challenge once you relax and get into the creating part of the class. I've taken both drawing and sculpture classes. I felt a bit limited in the drawing class. One class in drawing was enough for pattern sketches. I kept yearning for 3d design. I've taken 6 semesters of sculpture classes, the last few were advanced with mold design and large scale sculptures. For the first few years I was content with the sculpture of people and learning sculpture technique. Later I talked to my teacher and was able to swing my sculpture toward animals. IT was HEAVEN! I haven't taken classes in a few years but I want to get back. There is something special about being around a lot of creative people and just soaking in the conversations and watching fellow classmates discover their own styles 
Karen
P.S. I do design many of my soft sculpture patterns directly from my clay sculptures.
Michelle,
Funny here I was about to start a similar post. I'm also looking into art classes and I have found that the local art society offers them as well and they are much cheaper than the Junior College or University. Most classes here range from $60 - $250 depending on the medium to be used.
I look forward to reading everyone's replies.
Hugs,
I did go to art college when I left school...(in those days they didn't do art at university here in England) I then went into hairdressing much to my mothers annoyance. But subsequently I went to a life drawing group for years where I not only did life drawing but some water colour and then i went on to do jewellery design, ceramics, textile design and photography.
I felt happy in a casual learning environment where I could do it at my leisure with no 'homework' and coursework to complete. So I totally get why you might feel like a fish out of water in a formal learning environment...that is why I found my self happily captivated by the leisurely courses I did...and 25 years on I am still friends with my life drawing teacher. I loved the fact that everyone and anyone could enrol...from me in my then late 20s to my sisters friend Molly who was then in her late 80s.
Was it all useful....? You bet it was....everything I learned I now use...i find I can pull things out that i thought I had forgotten and they are perfect to achieve what I am aiming at.
I think it's not just the drawing and stuff that makes you a better artist...it just opening up to creativity..and thinking outside the box. I would take those classes but see if you can find some less structured (less expensive) format that is a sociable learning experience which is enjoyable too.
Chaska, MinnesotaThank you all for your advice.
Karen mentioned, it is finding my creativity which I have a hard time finding. The college has sculpting classes too! I can see from your designs art classes certainly enhanced your gift!
Heather: Helping to create what I have in my minds eye is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you for the encouragement on being a novice and not being afraid to take a college drawing class.
Gijgette: I looked and looked for a true drawing class in my community. The only one I found was at our local community center and it did not look to be an intense course at all. Very short in duration. But it is good to see you are looking at this too.
Jenny: What a wonderful opportunity to take the level of classes you did without pressure. I think it is all about the creativity and tapping into it….Like Heather, I can tell how creative you are and your designs are adorable. I can see why art classes are recommended.
My aunt told me to sign up for the class and said “so what about the grade, just go and learn what you can†. She is a wise woman. I think that is what is hanging me up is that I would be under pressure to make a good grade rather than learning for pleasure. So I believe I will sign up for the class. The worst thing that could happen is that I hate it and I can withdraw!!!
Thank you all again for the advice and inspiration….I will be signing up for the class! If I do well and like it, I may try the sculpting class next that Karen recommends.
Pearl Button BearsHI Michelle,
so glad you going to give it a go! You will love it! I spent 5 years at art college, I did 2 years theatre crafts and 3 in a costume degree... I loved it and wish I had made more of the opportunity - thats part of growing up though! The chance to just be creative day in and day out was one I wish I had now! You just need to not look at what others produce in "there better than me" fashion and concentrate on what you feel and how you will produce it. You will have ample opportunity to share ideas and pick up skills to improve your work. I believe every one can do something artistic - drawing a nice picture isn't the be all and end all.... hey look at Picasso! Amazing but not what you would immediately think of as a good drawing! ( Im sure you get my gist?! Im not dissing Picasso just saying he produced master pieces that are different) Take as many opportunitys to find what you like doing and give it all you have got! I look forward to seeing some of your pieces.... in whatever form they will take! 
desertmountainbearTake courses Michelle Helen, I agree with Jenny, look for informal classes. Here in Phoenix we have an art center. I took a metal smithing class hter a couple of years ago. Great fun with a blow torch, and lots of more grown up pupils, shall I say. Also a suprising lack of egos. Do I use those skills learned in bear-making, probaby not, but it was a way to be more creative.
As far a drawing. In high school, I majored in art, I thought I would be an art teacher, I have done a lot of drawing. I can not put what is in my head on paper, I think that for me it is not a skill learned. I can create if I see it. Even when I draw patterns or work on bears, I work with pictures of bears around me.
Joanne
Joanne...I think you are so right about the drawing. I think it's not the drawing per se...but the looking ....and the enquirying as to the how and why that makes art classes the best ever at finding what makes you tick creatively.
I'd say do the course ...but maybe dip your toe in the water with leisure courses first...see what grabs you. The cousres I did were all short courses..but you usually you'll find that these courses run each term ( semester?) and that the same folks turn up each time...so it runs and runs. They aren't really 'courses' just a place to go where people with the same interests hang out and do stuff. With a teacher to help.
Chaska, MinnesotaJoanne, Julie and Jenny: thank you all so very much for your feedback. I believe part of this is looking to tap into a creative side to see what I am capable of. I have no training in any of this. I took bear classes but it was from other peoples bear patterns (though their tips were invaluable). But I want to look at creating cloth dolls too and painted faces which I would not know how to draw an eye much less paint one! I found I love to doodle and it sparked a yearning to develop it. So all these things are coming to a point where I want to learn more....Just as all of the above people who posted responses, all have experienced some form of training (formal or informal) which from your bears and websites, shows your talent. Oh my goodness, such talent which I can only aspire to do in my creations.
Jenny you did hit the nail on the head though with your comment about exploring my creativity. That is the crux I think in looking into drawing and other art classes. I didn't look at it that why until you said it!! Who knows where this will lead....
I did enroll in the class to start Sept 12th. It is a Saturday class in the afternoon. I could not find another class in the art centers in my area. So it will be a letter grade. But as my aunt said "it does not matter what grade you get, you are in it to learn what you can"...so, I will have to remember that so I can enjoy myself and not worry about anything else...
Matilda Huggington-beareGood for you Michelle. Thats great news that you enrolled. It is the first step on an amazing journey. I wonder where it's going to take you? Oh how exciting :dance: :dance: :dance:
Chaska, MinnesotaThank you Wendy...I hope it leads to new creative ideas and inspirations....
Matilda Huggington-beareI'm sure it will Michelle. 
:dance:
Baird'sBears
I've never had formal art training--school of trial and error here--but as a former university professor I can advise you on how to get the most out of your courses.
By all means, talk to your teacher about what you want to learn and do. Even community courses are taught by talented people who really respond strongly to a student's interest, and might go way beyond the curriculum to help you.
At the same time, you'll be exposed to new ideas and techniques that might at first seem irrelevant to your goals . . . but you really never know what's going to spark the creative fire.
Unlike many of your fellow students you've got a goal, and you know what you want out of the course--this is very inspiring to a teacher, because most of the time it's difficult to know if you're reaching anyone!
Chaska, MinnesotaThank you Eileen. I never thought to tell the teacher my goals for the class. Yes, I think you have a great points here!! :hug:
